WEBVTT E WORK BEING DONE.VICKI: CONSTRUCTION CREWSSCALING WHAT REMAINS OF OROVILLEDAMS PRIMARY SPILLWAY.CONTROLLED EXPLOSIONS, UPROOTINGDECADES-OLD CONCRETE MAKING WAYFOR A STURDIER SHOOT TO PROTECTRESIDENTS DOWNSTREAM.>> WE ARE ABLE TO STARTCONSTRUCTION EARLIER, WE ARE AWEEK AHEAD OF SCHEDULE.VICKI: AND NEARLY HALF A CENTURYOLD, ORACLE DEMO IS THE TALLESTIN THE COUNTRY.THE SPILLWAY IS NEARLY TWICE ASWIDE AS THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE.BACK IN FEBRUARY, HEAVY STORMSSHOWING EROSION SPLITTING BITSPILLWAY.WITH A FILLING EMERGENCYSPILLWAY PROMPTING UNPRECEDENTEDEVACUATIONS OF NEARLY 200,000PEOPLE ALONG THE FEATHER RIVER.>> WHAT YOU SEE TODAY YOU WON'TSEE TOMORROW.VICKI: THE STATE NOW REBUILDINGTWO THIRDS OF THE PRIMARYSPILLWAY IN TIME FOR THEUPCOMING WET SEASON.ALONG WITH THE CONSTRUCTIONAWARDED $275 MILLION CONTRACTINGBID.THEY COME FRESH FROM WORKINGON FOLSOM SPILLWAY, THEY KNOWTHIS WORK AND THEY COULD DO ITQUICKLY.VICKI: THE FIRST LEG OFRECONSTRUCTION ON TRACK TO MEETTHE NOVEMBER 1 DEADLINE WITH THEDEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCESSCHEDULING FULL COMPLETION IN2018, MARKING OROVILLE DAMS 50TH

With an ambitious deadline approaching for the recovery of Oroville Dam’s primary spillway, the state is reporting a strong start to reconstruction.“We were able to start construction a little bit earlier so we are a couple of days, maybe even a week, ahead of schedule,” said Oroville Recovery Project spokesperson Erin Mellon, who is with California Natural Resources Agency. “What you see today, you won’t see tomorrow.”Nearly 50 years old, Oroville Dam is the tallest in the country. Its primary spillway is around 3,600 feet, and almost twice the width of the Golden Gate Bridge. On Feb. 7, heavy storms revealed erosion on the dam’s primary spillway, prompting the use of the neighboring emergency spillway days later for the first time. The emergency spillway failed and began eroding, threatening massive flooding downstream. On Feb. 12, mandatory evacuations were issued for 188,000 residents along the Feather River.Department of Water Resources is now working to reconstruct both spillways, hiring Kiewit Construction which was awarded a $275 million contract. “They come fresh from working on Folsom’s spillway so they know this work and they can do it very quickly,” Mellon said. Kiewit’s peak staffing in August will be upward of 550 employees. They will be living in hotels and additional housing in Oroville. “That doesn’t include the DWR employees that have been living and working here even before the erosion occurred, and then the new team that came up once the incident happened in February,” Mellon explained. “We are also talking with Chico State to use their dorms in the summer.”Around two-thirds of the primary spillway will be rebuilt by the state’s Nov. 1 deadline. Around 2,600 feet of concrete has already been excavated, according to Mellon. “What they are working on is moving a lot of the power lines, and building in new power lines, up there on the spillway, as well as washing the rock, so that when we put the roller compacted concrete on top of the rock, it’s clean and ensures a very good bond,” Mellon explained. The remaining 1,000 feet of the upper primary spillway will receive patching and additional bolting, but it will remain largely intact this year, Mellon said.The plan is to save excavation for next year when the final leg of reconstruction is expected to be complete.

OROVILLE, Calif. (KCRA) —

With an ambitious deadline approaching for the recovery of Oroville Dam’s primary spillway, the state is reporting a strong start to reconstruction.

“We were able to start construction a little bit earlier so we are a couple of days, maybe even a week, ahead of schedule,” said Oroville Recovery Project spokesperson Erin Mellon, who is with California Natural Resources Agency. “What you see today, you won’t see tomorrow.”

Nearly 50 years old, Oroville Dam is the tallest in the country. Its primary spillway is around 3,600 feet, and almost twice the width of the Golden Gate Bridge.

On Feb. 7, heavy storms revealed erosion on the dam’s primary spillway, prompting the use of the neighboring emergency spillway days later for the first time.

The emergency spillway failed and began eroding, threatening massive flooding downstream. On Feb. 12, mandatory evacuations were issued for 188,000 residents along the Feather River.

Department of Water Resources is now working to reconstruct both spillways, hiring Kiewit Construction which was awarded a $275 million contract.

“They come fresh from working on Folsom’s spillway so they know this work and they can do it very quickly,” Mellon said.

Kiewit’s peak staffing in August will be upward of 550 employees. They will be living in hotels and additional housing in Oroville.

Vicki Gonzalez/KCRA

“That doesn’t include the DWR employees that have been living and working here even before the erosion occurred, and then the new team that came up once the incident happened in February,” Mellon explained. “We are also talking with Chico State to use their dorms in the summer.”

Around two-thirds of the primary spillway will be rebuilt by the state’s Nov. 1 deadline. Around 2,600 feet of concrete has already been excavated, according to Mellon.

“What they are working on is moving a lot of the power lines, and building in new power lines, up there on the spillway, as well as washing the rock, so that when we put the roller compacted concrete on top of the rock, it’s clean and ensures a very good bond,” Mellon explained.

The remaining 1,000 feet of the upper primary spillway will receive patching and additional bolting, but it will remain largely intact this year, Mellon said.

The plan is to save excavation for next year when the final leg of reconstruction is expected to be complete.